The Canal

The working navvy did dig deep He followed Brindly’s new laid plan A transport system to complete A salvation for the labouring man As the furrow cut with sweat and maul With breaking backs and torn sinew Each man in turn to heave and haul Sustenance for starving kin renew Tracts of land transform through spade and pick Veins enriching the countryside Bringing new life, each shovel, each brick Levelling earth, raising national pride A true revelation this arterial plan Almost lost through modernisation Abandoned, grown dense, dispirit man As steam and diesel grew within the nation Each lock assiduously built Before first steam engine’s whistle blew Weeds strangle, progressive man’s new guilt The canals ebb, debris as seeds strew More beauteous now than ever been Our arterial chart of the waterway Each torn muscle, victuals did glean Bed and nourishment for one more day The navvy’s ghosts look down, heads held high Their gnarled hands rest in heavenly peace Majestic waterways dug in sweat with sigh A once industrial, now beautiful masterpiece. © 16/11/2013 GG Inspired by Harry J Horsmans' free verse 'The Cut' which is a colloquial name for a canal